The present invention relates in general to dunnage or shipping accessory containers for maintaining packaged articles in a confined position during shipment and in particular, to a void filler apparatus for occupying a position among various cargo containers, while keeping such articles from shifting from their designated position during transportation.
Shippers and storers of various packed articles traditionally place as many packed articles as possible within a given box car or truck trailer. In order to accomplish this objective, the shippers often occupy as much floor room as possible, while stacking the various packed articles one upon another thereafter. Even so, the packed articles often unable to fill the available box car or truck trailer space exactly--enabling the packed articles to shift position. Even where spacing is compact, lightweight or collapsible containers may adjoin heavier bulky containers which, during shipment, could still present danger of breakage as a result of sudden movement or shifting--especially where fragile materials are involved.
For many years various devices have been used by shippers to fill up the spaces between packed articles so that the articles will not move or shift from their prepositioned placement during vehicle movement. A common device for this purpose has been dunnage bags which have been placed between packed articles to fill up these empty spaces. These have traditionally been filled with various forms of shock absorbing materials such as peanut-shaped polystyrene materials and/or various kinds of bubble packing. Air tight constructions have been used for inflatable dunnage bags--towards shock absorption and shift prevention. All these materials provide adequate shock absorption.
More recently a void filler apparatus has embodied a box structure of corrugated cardboard. An example of such a structure has been sold by Design Packaged Concepts of Denver, Colo. This box-like structure utilizes two separate rectangular sleeves of corrugated material, each making an enclosed rectangular tube, both tubes of which are joined together by adhesive along one side at a 2-ply region. The prior art apparatus does not form completed independently formed and sealed rectangles, but rather applies adhesive to the overlapping portions of the two separate rectangular sleeves, thereby forming and affixing tubes to one-another to, in turn, construct that void filler apparatus. This prior art construction also contains deployable flap members to maintain the shape of these sleeves. However, these members do not contain any type of positive locking means. Once deployed, the rigidity flap members are held in place with a friction interference fit. As part of this prior art configuration, an additional piece of corrugated material is adhesively attached to the back of one of the rectangular sleeves as a "wing", in order to further secure the placement of the void filler relative to the adjacent packed articles.
While functional, this configuration of the prior art does not utilize the advantages that may be obtained from constructing an apparatus from a single sheet of material. Accordingly, the prior art configuration requires more corrugated material than an integrated apparatus, the use of such additional material being costlier and heavier than a void filler formed from a single sheet of corrugated material. Since the prior art configuration utilizes separate components, its overall size when collapsed is likewise substantial, when preliminarily, fully assembled. While the collapsed size would be smaller if not fully assembled, the prior art device would then require additional assembly and the use of adhesives by the user. To be utilized with various height articles, adhesive attachment of position securement wings would be required.
The prior art void filler may have the potential to collapse unexpectably during use. Since each rectangular sleeve does not have its own integrity and relies on the other sleeve to maintain structure, any problem with the adhesive attachment between the two sleeves could cause collapse of an entire sleeve portion. The device may not function properly if either sleeve collapses or is not fully deployed. Due to the lack of positive locking features on the rigidity flaps, they may likewise become undeployed during use and thereby again enhance the potential for a collapse of the device.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a void filler apparatus that can be utilized on various height articles during shipping or storage.
It is additionally an object of the invention to form a void filler apparatus out of a single sheet of unitary material thereby eliminating the need for as many adhesive attachments of separate components to assemble the void filler. Such a unitary sheet of material not only helps create a more stable void filler apparatus, but it also facilitates the ease of manufacturing and preliminary forming of the apparatus--at a substantially reduced cost, as a result of minimized material and associated weight requirements.
As an additional object of the invention is the continued operation of at least a portion of the present void filler invention should another portion of the void filler apparatus collapse.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification and drawings.